It was one of those moments when you just feel that your life is pivoting on a blade edge. The slightest movement or choice or decision and it will tip off one side or the other. And then away it will run.

My partner Kelly and I have been looking for a camper van for a while now. Several years in actuality.
Every time we found a van with all the things we were looking for it was outside our price range or it was located just far enough away as to make checking it out logistically impossible before it was sold.

In walking, just walk. In sitting, just sit. Above all, don’t wobble. –Linji Yixuan

Then one evening, totally unexpectedly, Kelly found an ad for a motorhome that was exactly what we were looking for!
And it was literally a 20 min drive away.

We drove over and took a look. Now this vehicle was more than a camper van. This was a motorhome.
At 7.3 metres long it included toilet, shower, kitchenette and oodles of storage.
It was an Auto Trail FB.  An opportunity to travel completely off-grid and in comfort.
And,  it was in pristine condition with only 6,000 km on the dial.

The only problem was that it was sitting tantalisingly over on the far side of the outer margins of what we could afford.
We talked it over. We weighed the pros and cons. We consumed large quantities of alcohol to lubricate our decision making processes.

We spun through online forums searching for other owners of similar motorhomes.
We contemplated the brevity and vicissitudes of our rounded lives. We noted how the universe had seemed to slide all these Swiss cheese holes of serendipity into alignment in an attempt to nudge us onwards.
Eat this sandwich, it seemed to urge. I made it myself!

We wrestled with our heads and our hearts for several days fully expecting it to get sold in the meantime.

Eventually we came to a decision. We would not buy it.
That was totally the sensible thing to do.

We decided to go out and celebrate with a coffee.
Only the thing is…. on the way to the cafe we almost drove right past  another Auto Trail FB parked in the driveway of a residence just up the street. What were the chances!?!

Bam. We looked at each other. There we were on the knife-edge. And we both knew it.
We could keep driving. Or we could pull in. There would be consequences.
As we pulled up behind the Auto Trail the owner popped out from behind a wall. Turns out he had just returned from a trip and was cleaning out a clutter of sand and empty wine bottles. He had an easy gleam in his eye.

An hour later, after an enthusiastic and inspiring conversation with this guy we knew everything was about to change….